DONT CALL BROKERS

Free advice is worth every penny you pay for nothing.

 

Most brokers aren't one-man operations. Their employers have policies that lay out parameters regarding what carriers they will use. One of those parameters is the size of the carrier's fleet. The broker typically has no flexibility where the company policy is concerned.

 

You should realize and understand that not everyone's goals and priorities align with yours. So you go after direct freight. Good for you. Not everyone is interested in the hassles that go along with direct freight.

There's more than one way to do something right, and that applies to owning and operating a truck as well.

 

Hassles? You mean a little extra work

Either way..Fair Enough. I'll stop bothering you 2... Carry on.

 

Well, only once I spoke to a broker requiring 5 trucks or more, no other brokerage company has ever mentioned anything like that and I spoke with probably over a thousand brokers

 

Just for quality conversation, Exactly what do you mean by "There's more than one way to do something right" in transportation.

Please educate me in What the "other" way is in doing this right.

I'd really like to know.

 

Maybe my memory is way off here but didn't windsmith used to book your own loads? And is now a company driver...?

I have also only had 1 broker say to me they need companies with 3 or more trucks. Everyone else loves it because they can call me and I can say where I am when the load will be there and I make everything real smooth. Not sure where the idea of brokers want companies with 10 or more.

 

According to his postings..... I had a Good Feeling he may have failed at business..And his confidence is a little Hurt.

 

I've already explained that to you in my previous comments, but that explanation fell on deaf ears. You haven't removed your earbuds yet, so I'm not going to waste any more time on explaining.

Yes, you are correct on both counts. I did book my own loads, for a truck that I didn't own. I had at least two brokers (Commercial Traffic was one of them) that would not talk to me because the fleet size was a grand total of two, and they would not deal with fleets smaller than 10 trucks. My current company will also not broker loads to carriers unless they have a sizable amount of capacity.

Technically I was a company driver then. And I'm a company driver now. The main reason is because I need to be physically available to assist with an ailing relative - and my current employment situation allows that to happen. It's a plus that I'm also earning more than double what most OTR company drivers claim to be earning here in the forums, all while spending every night at home in my own bed unless I choose not to. Oh, and I have weekends off. And paid holidays. And paid personal days and vacation days.

For the record, I didn't fail at business - transportation business anyway. I owned a successful computer and networking business in the early 90s, but my then wife persuaded me to close it and accept a job with IBM because it made her feel more secure about our finances.

Where I am now:

I have the option to purchase a truck and put it to work at my current company. Their rates are on par with most of the other lease programs that I've investigated. But when I run the numbers every few months to see if that would be a wise move for me, it always turns out that I'm putting more in my pocket as a company driver than I would as an owner / operator when the complete pay package is taken into account.

Thanks for asking.

 

What hassles are there with direct freight?

70% of what I do is direct, and there are less hassles with it than brokered freight. My customers call me, let me know what they need covered, and I let them know what I can cover and when I'll be there to load it.

With brokered stuff, I have to go on the load board, sift thru all the garbage, make phone calls and deal with some folks that would be better off as a greater at Walmart, until I find one that will give me a fair rate. Then we get to email setup packets, (if im not setup with them) and rate con's back and forth. All of this crap is a hassle!

And I've yet to have a broker tell me, sorry, we don't work with one truck carriers, I'm sure it'll happen some day, but it isn't nearly as wide spread as you seem to think it is.